The Feud
by blackberrymint
Summary: It all started when Athrun Zala peered outside his window and saw his best friend's sister undressing in her bedroom.
1. How it all began

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny or its characters and names. This is a work of fanfiction, not for profit.

A/N: College AU. I don't know why I'm writing this as I honestly don't have the time to, but I've had this idea in my head for a long time now, and I love writing humour, so here it is! I hope you guys enjoy it. I don't anticipate very long chapters or many chapters for this story. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update, but if you like this story, please leave a review as it motivates me to write. Similarly, if you have any critics, please also leave a review, as I am here to learn. Thank you!

* * *

 **The Feud**

 **1**

"Hey, you can see into the girls' house from your window." Was the first thing his housemate, Dearka, said to him when they moved into the share house, right next door to a girls' share house.

He didn't pay attention to it or who was living next door until one day, his best friend paid him a visit and came upstairs to his room.

"Hey, you can see into my sister's room from your window." Kira commented.

A vague flash of gold invaded his mind's vision. And when he finally took a glimpse out of his window from his study desk some weeks later, he was reminded that Kira's sister had golden hair and golden eyes and looked nothing like Kira.

She was also kind of cute.

When he was studying for his midterms, he went to open the window to let some fresh air in and spotted the blonde in her room dancing to the radio. The music travelled across through his open window, and he decided to close it after all, as Taylor Swift's latest single was kind of distracting when you're trying to solve a complex physics problem. And her singing wasn't exactly phenomenal either. Although the next time he unintentionally caught sight of her from across the way, the memory of her twirling around and flailing her arms randomly brought a bemused smile to his face.

Kira had introduced her to him once or twice, in passing. Cagalli was her name. He remembered her golden eyes glancing at him curiously but they never exchanged more than a hello and goodbye. He would see her across campus sometimes, but that was about it since they never ran into each other in class as he studied Engineering and he remembered Kira saying his sister studied Political Science.

Their paths never crossed or warranted any need for crossing until the first day of the second semester of his sophomore year.

That was when it all started.

When hell broke lose.

* * *

Athrun trudged up the stairs to his room after class, his backpack already heavy with textbooks and assignments, when a familiar music drifted over, getting louder the closer he got to his bedroom. When he opened the door to his room, the music hit him like a blast through his open window and he could see the familiar sight of a blonde dancing to the music on the other side.

Athrun shook his head in amusement then opened up his bag and dumped his textbooks and homework down on his desk with a sigh. First day of class and already five new assignments to complete in the next two weeks. He didn't know how any of the students on campus had time to party. His eyes inadvertently drifted to the window, watching the way Kira's sister moved, with such careless abandon. There was something about her spirit and energy that made Athrun want to watch her some more.

He headed to the window.

A small grin lit up his face as he watched Cagalli spin around on her bed, shaking to the tunes of _Shake It Off_. Then Cagalli started shaking off her clothes. It started off innocent with the removal of her scarf, then a jacket, then her socks.

Athrun thought nothing of it at first, until Cagalli's hands drifted to the hem of her t-shirt and started lifting it up, exposing the creamy skin of her abdomen.

At this point Athrun Zala should have looked away. At this point, if he was still the son Lenore Zala raised to be a courteous, sweet, morally upright young man, he would have looked away. But at that precise moment Athrun Zala's brain decided to go on vacation. Instead he froze. Eyes still staring. Mind completely blank of thought. Except for the thought of golden creamy skin. More and more of it as the shirt was lifted higher. Then black lace on creamy skin.

His eyes widened. His heartbeat quickened. His breath caught in his lungs.

Cagalli took off her t-shirt on the other side and tossed it onto her bed. It was at this point that Athrun's mind decided to wander back to him.

He should not be spying on his best friend's sister undressing in her bedroom.

He should not be spying on _anyone_ undressing in their bedroom.

Just as his brain finally told him to turn away and move, Cagalli lifted her head towards the window. This time she froze, fingers perched over the clasp of her bra, getting ready to undo it. Athrun, whose body had not quite responded to his brain's request to move just yet, found her golden eyes piercing his, first startled, then alarmed, then a rosy blush at her cheeks, then fury. Definitely fury.

He gulped. And hastily, if a little too late, turned around and averted his gaze. A second passed, a minute passed, he wasn't quite sure when the music had stopped but when Athrun finally dared to turn around again to peek out the window, he had found that her curtains were drawn closed.

Slowly, Athrun pulled out his chair and sat on it.

'What just happened?' he asked himself.

No. He knew what had happened. He couldn't seem to forget what had happened, as black lace, soft curves, golden hair, golden eyes and golden skin kept replaying in his mind. The question was, what happens now?

Judging from the fury, definite fury, in her eyes, she had taken it the wrong way. He needed to apologise to Cagalli straight away. It was an accident. A misunderstanding. It was definitely not his intention to spy on her when she was getting undressed. He was not that kind of person. His mother taught him better than that. It caught him by surprise. He froze. And he felt terrible about it. Definitely felt...

 _Black lace. Sun-kissed skin. Supple round curves._

'Dammit, Zala! Stop it!' Athrun found himself shouting but it wouldn't stop.

 _The sway of her hips. The way her hair fell over her face. When her lips parted._

 _Her golden piercing stare. The fury in her eyes. Kira's sister's eyes._

Athrun banged his head on the table as the last thought struck him. _Kira's sister. Kira's SISTER._

His mother would be very disappointed in him and his best friend would probably kill him. He had to apologise to Cagalli.

Athrun gathered up his courage and headed out of his room with the intention of going next door to apologise when the doorbell rang. When Athrun reached the front door, and opened it, Cagalli stood there with her arms crossed over a new shirt, and a furious expression on her face. Her golden eyes, which he always found to be full of spirit, was not lacking in lividness either, as she glared death at him. All thoughts of black lace and silky smooth skin were chased from his mind, replaced by a healthy dose of fear.

'You!' She pointed an accusing finger at him the moment he opened the door. 'How dare you?! Who do you think you are, peering into other people's windows to watch them undress?! It better not happen again, or I'm calling the police. I can't believe my brother is friends with a revolting sack of human garbage like you! Who else have you perved on? What kind of traits are you rubbing off on Kira?! Were you the one who gave my brother that porno mag I found in his room when we were 16?'

Her verbal assault on him was so immediate and unrelenting that it left Athrun flabbergasted. 'What? Police? Listen, I'm sorry. It was an accident. Who are you calling a revolting sack of human garbage?!' he stammered after her as his brain tried to catch up. 'I'm not a pervert. I didn't know you were getting changed, I really am sorry. What does Kira have anything to do with this?'

Cagalli ignored him and continued to call him every assortment of vile words stringed together.

'Look, I said I was sorry!' Athrun managed to cut in, somewhere in between being called the world's funkiest smelling turd, and being the poster-child for the word C-R-E-E-P, which he really didn't think he deserved.

This seemed to have caught Cagalli's attention, though not in a good way. 'Oh, you're sorry? You think you get to violate my privacy and my dignity like that, make me feel unsafe in my own home and everything'll be okay if you just say you're sorry?'

'Hey, I didn't ask to look out the window to see you changing. You're the one who left your curtains open! Who takes off their clothes without closing their curtains?'

'Unbelievable! So it's my fault?!'

'That's not what I meant...'

'How long have you been doing it?'

'What?'

'How many other times have you been spying on me while I undressed?'

'What? None!'

'You better hope so, Zala.' She pointed a righteous finger in his face. 'Because I'm not going to make your life easy.'

And just like that, Cagalli whirled around, her golden hair swaying behind her, and left, leaving Athrun standing at the entrance of his house still trying to process what just happened.

When Athrun finally closed the door and turned around, he found his housemates Yzak and Dearka standing there, having been witness to the whole exchange.

'You were spying on Yamato's sister?' Yzak said with his arms crossed over his chest in a judgemental sort of way. 'Shame on you, Zala.'

'I knew it! That's why you spend so much time holed up in that room of yours!' Dearka said with an approving glee, as if he just solved some unexplained mystery.

'No! That's not it at all!' Athrun exploded. His mind finally finished comprehending everything and he couldn't believe how things had blown out of proportions. And now even his housemates were accusing him of being a creep. 'I spend my time studying in my room. And I was not spying on Kira's sister getting changed!'

'Gotcha. Studying the female anatomy from the window.' Dearka winked at him.

'You didn't?' Yzak raised a sceptical eyebrow. They both ignored Dearka.

'Well...not intentionally.' Athrun backtracked then groaned. How was he going to explain this to Kira?

'Hey, I believe you,' Yzak offered, 'since you're not Elsman.'

'I don't resent that,' Dearka piped.

'But seriously, Zala, you need to work on your apology skills.'

Athrun winced, remembering his words. He hadn't meant to accuse her of leaving her curtains open. It just came out in the heat of the moment. Cagalli wasn't giving him any chance to explain and he was getting frustrated, and it just all came out so wrong.

'Oh god...' Athrun muttered under his breath. Things just keep getting worse and worse. Yzak gave him a pat on the shoulder before walking back to the living room.

He wasn't given any more time to contemplate when the doorbell rang again. Athrun opened the door and was assaulted by a blinding white flash. When his vision cleared, he could see Cagalli storming across the lawn back to her side.

'What just happened?' It seemed to be his favourite phrase of the day.

Dearka who was still next to him, leaned over Athrun's shoulder to see the blonde retreating into her house. 'I think she just took your photo, dude.'

'Why?'

His blond friend gave a shrug of the shoulders. 'To use as dart practice? To put in her Burn Book? To give to the hitman, so they'll know what you look like when she orders the hit on you?'

Athrun didn't even bother responding to Dearka. He headed back upstairs to his bedroom. When he got there, he drew his own curtains closed, sat down at his desk and was determined to forget the whole fiasco. But as he bunkered down and stared at his physics textbook, he couldn't help picturing her again, not the black lace and velvet smooth skin, though that was plenty distracting too, but the way she danced and moved, hopping from her bed onto the carpet back onto the bed again, and realised he wasn't going to get any studying done tonight.


	2. Was it his face?

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny or its characters and names.

* * *

 **The Feud**

 **2**

Athrun had fallen asleep drooling on his textbook, when he heard his name being called from downstairs.

'Zala, Yamato's here!'

That jolted him wide awake. Then an unusual spike of fear ran down his spine.

Cagalli Yamato or Kira Yamato? He wondered which of the twin had come to spell his doom. He wasn't sure which of the two he preferred and briefly contemplated escaping from the window before realising what a stupid thought that was.

Athrun took a deep breath, fixed his textbook hair up in his mirror then bravely waltzed to his death. Halfway down the staircase, he could see a mop of brown hair, and the knowledge that it was his best friend didn't ease the tension in his body.

It wasn't unusual for Kira to be here, he told himself. Since Kira was his best friend, and his best friend dropped by all the time to hang out. Surely this visit had nothing to do with what happened with his sister.

His hopes however were dashed once he reached the bottom and Kira turned around with a glare of death that matched the one Cagalli have given him hours earlier, only where Cagalli's eyes were a raging gold, her brother's were a steel cold amethyst. It was then Athrun remembered that whenever Kira visited, he would always pay a visit to his sister next door first.

'Athrun,' Kira addressed solemnly. 'I heard some disturbing news from Cagalli just then. And I would like to give you the opportunity to explain yourself before I tear you from limb to limb and discard the remains to the dog.'

Athrun gulped. 'You would?'

'We don't have a dog!' someone piped in from the living room behind them.

Kira nodded. 'As my best friend, I think it's only fair I hear your side of the story.'

Athrun looked suspiciously at his best friend. Although Kira seemed calm, that stare of his was really unnerving. In all the years Athrun had known Kira, he had never known Kira to be a violent kind of person. He had to believe that Kira was more reasonable than his sister and that their years of friendship counted for something. Maybe Kira would give him a head start before releasing the dogs on him. The fact that they didn't have a dog didn't make things better.

'It was an accident, I swear!' Athrun blundered out and when he started he couldn't stop. 'I didn't mean to see her getting changed. She was just playing her music really loudly and I went over to the window to see and she started to take her clothes off! When I realised what was happening, it already happened, and before I had the chance to look away, Cagalli saw me. And when I tried to apologise to Cagalli, she didn't give me a chance to explain. It's really just a whole big misunderstanding. I was NOT perving on your sister, Kira. You have to believe me!'

When he finished, Kira was silent for a long while. Athrun wondered if this was supposed to be the head start Kira was giving him and if he should start running now.

'What music?' Kira asked finally.

'What?'

'What music was my sister playing?'

'Taylor Swift. _Shake It Off_.'

'Prove it.'

'What?'

'Sing it.'

'I shake it off?' Athrun started uncertainly. The serious look on Kira's face made him continue dubiously. 'I, I shake it off, I shake if off. I, I shake it, I shake it off.'

There was another round of silence before Kira suddenly said, 'Okay, I believe you.'

'You do?'

Kira came around and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. 'You're my best friend, if you said you didn't intentionally perv on my sister, then I'm inclined to believe you. Besides, I know Cagalli has a short temper and a tendency to overact. And I know you would _never_ have indecent intentions towards my sister, right?'

The way Kira smiled too brightly and the emphasis he placed on the word _never,_ had Athrun nodding his head fervently. 'Right.'

Kira's grip on his shoulder relaxed into a friendly pat, and all manner of seriousness was gone. 'Also, it was fun listening to you try to sing Taytay.'

Athrun groaned and palmed his face. 'You did that on purpose.'

Kira let out a loud laughter this time like he couldn't hold it in any longer, slapping his knee in the process. 'Seriously, don't quit your day job, you have horrible pitch,' he managed the words between sobs of raucous laughter.

Athrun shook his head in disbelief, half amazed he still had a head on his shoulders. Though Kira had forgiven him, Kira wasn't the one he had offended, Cagalli was. Somehow, he still needed to make it right with Cagalli.

'Hey, Kira. Can you talk to Cagalli for me? She was too mad to listen to me earlier. Will you tell her I really am sorry?'

'I'll try, but I can't guarantee she'll listen to me.'

Kira continued to snicker as he made his way to Athrun's living room, muttering 'I shake it off,' under his breath, imitating the way Athrun was singing.

From the lounge he could hear Yzak asking, 'Not dead yet, Zala?'

'Nope!' Athrun replied. Apparently his best friend was satisfied with just embarrassing him for now. He followed Kira into the lounge area where they were greeted by Yzak and Dearka on the sofa.

'So, Kira,' Dearka asked, twisting himself around on the couch so he could get a better view, 'you really just gonna let Zala off the hook like that? 'Cause if it were my sis, I would have bashed Zala's head in.'

Athrun threw his housemate a warning glare. He wasn't quite sure how he had escaped the hook himself, but he certainly didn't need Dearka changing Kira's mind about it.

Kira picked an armchair and plopped down on it, sprawling out his limbs. 'Oh, I'm not worried. Cagalli can take care of herself. She'll string any man who gets on her wrong side up by their balls,' he announced with such loving fondness in his voice. 'I mean, have you met my sister?'

'Actually, no,' Yzak replied from the opposite end of the couch where Dearka was, then let out an irritated growl when Dearka tried to rest his feet on Yzak's lap. He pushed the other man off the couch and there was an audible groan as Dearka hit the floor.

Athrun had to agree with Yzak. Although Kira would mention his sister quite often, usually with horror stories from their childhood, he had never once invited Cagalli to any gatherings with his friends. And although Athrun had been friends with Kira since high school, he barely knew his best friend's twin at all, aside from her name, what she looked like, and that apparently she had a bad temper.

'Well, probably for the best,' Kira replied. 'Did I tell you about what happened to her ex-boyfriend in high school? No? Well she caught him cheating on her, and I'm not too sure about the details, but whatever she did to him, he was found weeping behind the gym for a whole week.'

'No shit.' Someone, probably all three of them uttered out.

'No shit.' Kira agreed.

Afterwards, Yzak got up, stepped over Dearka who was still sprawled on the floor, went to the kitchen and came back with a six pack of beer and a bowl of chips. He offered the first beer to Athrun who gulped it down far too quickly. Then the rest of the night continued like nothing had happened as the boys bunkered down for cards and a predictably bad movie.

So when Kira was leaving, after a few more beers and a few more rounds of cards, and turned to Athrun and said, 'Good luck,' Athrun didn't think anything of it.

* * *

The next day, Athrun was determined to apologise properly to Cagalli and put the whole incident behind him. He didn't want to have wronged her in any way, even if it was by accident, or to have her feel uncomfortable around him.

When he spied her across the courtyard on campus, he tried to approach her only to have her see him then promptly walk in the opposite direction. Then he spotted her on the other side of the building after his first class and she again went the other way. Next, he thought he saw her next to the water station but as soon as he blinked, she was gone. So far, Cagalli was making it very difficult for him to say that he was sorry.

When at last, he inadvertently bumped into her exiting a lecture theatre where her class had just finished, and where his was about to start, he thought he finally had his chance to set things right.

'Cagalli, I-' that was all he managed to get out before she reeled on him.

'Leave me alone, you creep!' she shouted at him before turning abruptly and storming away. A crowd of people turned his way, giving him weird looks and murmurs started erupting.

Athrun ignored the sneers and whispers all directed at him and chased after the blonde who was running away from him.

'Cagalli, wait! I didn't mean to-' He caught up and reached for her.

Cagalli looked visibly distressed when she turned to face him again. 'Will you stop following me?'

'I wasn't,' Athrun protested, although technically he had been following her all day. Then realising that he had grabbed onto her arm, hastily let go. 'I mean, not in that way. Not the creepy kind of way.'

She jerked her arm back, not believing a word he said and turned to go again. Athrun almost followed again, desperate for her to understand him, when a brunette suddenly appeared in his face. He recognised her, she lived next door in the share house with Cagalli. Miriallia Hawwe. And he only knew her name because Dearka had been chasing her since freshman year. And since Dearka was not a decent human being, and since Miriallia was a human being with a brain, Dearka had been unsuccessful in his attempts at getting her to go out with him so far.

'Hey, get away from her!' Miriallia spat at him with what clearly was a look of disgust on her face before she ran after the blonde who was desperately running away from him. He heard Miriallia ask Cagalli if she was alright, and saw the solemn nod of Cagalli's head before Miriallia wrapped a comforting arm around her friend.

Athrun watched them disappear into the crowd and suddenly realised what an idiot he was. If she thought he had intentionally perved on her while she was taking off her clothes and then saw him pursuing her across the campus the next day, no wonder she appeared freaked. He probably came across exactly like the creep she thought he was.

His mother would definitely be disappointed in him. At least his best friend wasn't going to kill him.

'Hey, Athrun, what's up?' Speaking of the devil, Kira squeezed through the crowd and stopped beside him.

'Why is everyone staring at you?' Yzak remarked a second later, appearing after Kira.

'Hey, Kira, have you spoken to your sister for me?'

'Not yet, why?'

'Oh nothing,' Athrun gave a pathetic sigh. 'Just, put in a good word for me, okay?'

* * *

The next day, Athrun resolved to just keep his mouth shut and stay away from Kira's sister. He should probably give her some space, as she clearly did not want anything to do with him, and every time he tried to apologise, it just blew up in his face anyways.

Athrun gave a loud sigh as he rolled out of bed. He opened his curtains and noted that Cagalli's curtains were still drawn and had been that way since two nights ago. He oddly missed the view from his window, not the black lace and golden skin, he told himself, but the ever changing posters on her walls, the array of books on her shelves and the frantic way she would rush in and then rush out whenever she forgot something in her room.

Athrun had to stop himself there, because dammit, he really was a stalker.

He turned away, determined to forget everything about the girl next door, and got ready for class.

* * *

When Athrun arrived on campus, he got the distinct impression that he was being watched. Not in the 'someone was following him and spying from behind the bushes' kind of way. In the 'everyone is looking at him weirdly' kind of way. It couldn't possibly be because of what happened yesterday, right? He knew gossip travelled fast around campus but surely, it couldn't have caused this much of a commotion.

'Why are all the girls staring at you?' Yzak noticed as he and Athrun walked to class later that day.

'Maybe they're staring at you.' Athrun dared to hope.

'No, they're definitely staring at you.'

Athrun hung his head low and tried to ignore it, hoping that whatever it was, it would go away soon.

* * *

The next day the same thing happened. Only instead of getting better, it only got worse as the curious glances from yesterday turned into outright glares as he passed in the hallways. The day after that, whispers accompanied by pointing fingers started following him around.

He was beginning to feel like a freak show in the circus. Was it his hair? Not many people had blue hair, but he had never gotten this much attention for it before. Was it his face? His mother always said he was handsome and he did seem to receive the majority of the glares from the female population of the campus. But that was definitely not it either.

'What the hell is going on?!' Athrun let out in frustration on the fourth day.

'I don't know, but apparently you're a sicko,' Yzak replied beside him as he lifted a sticky note stuck on his back and handed it to him.

Apparently, they were back in middle school too, Athrun thought as he stared at the yellow note with the word 'sicko' scrawled across it in barely legible handwriting. He wasn't even going to bother with asking how or when that had gotten stuck onto his shirt, he just wanted to know why.

Athrun had just about had enough of whatever it was that was happening. He could scarcely concentrate in class, because people kept on whispering behind him, or turning their heads to sneak glances at him. He had a few rude gestures directed his way too and he had no idea how he had offended people he had never met before.

He was seriously contemplating grabbing the next person that looked at him funny and demanding being told what was going on, when Dearka waltzed up to him in the middle of the corridor, holding something in his hands.

'You're famous, dude,' Dearka stated excitedly then handed over a piece of paper. It was some kind of a flyer or poster. 'It's all over the girls' locker rooms!'

Athrun snatched the paper away and held it up to his eyes. His jaw almost hit the floor in disbelief. 'You've got to be kidding.'

On the A4 piece of paper was the letters B-E-W-A-R-E, followed by a photo of him, then the words PERVERT ON CAMPUS in capitals, and in that order.

'How did you get your hands on this?' Athrun asked, turning back to Dearka.

'Like I said, the girls' locker room.'

'You're the REAL pervert!' Athrun accused.

The blond simply shrugged. 'Hey, at least I never get caught.'

'You're disgusting, Elsman. Why am I even friends with you?' Athrun muttered under his breath then turned his attention back to the poster with his face on it.

Slowly, things began to make sense. Cagalli's threat. The photo she took. Kira's subtle or rather not-so-subtle warning about his sister. The odd looks and quiet whisperings behind his back.

So this was what Cagalli meant when she said she was not going to make life easy for him.

The photo Cagalli had snapped of him had caught him right when he was in mid-blink. His eyelids we halfway open, and his mouth was half agape in surprise. The flash on the camera did him no justice either as it turned his skin into a sickly pale colour. The photo made him look half drunk and half axe-wielding murderer. Even his mother would struggle to call him handsome in this photo.

'I look like a freak,' Athrun said in dismay.

'No,' Yzak said behind him. 'You look like a creep.'

Yzak gave him a sympathetic pat on the back and walked away with Dearka, leaving Athrun to continue to stare at his photograph.

It turned out it was his face after all. And he couldn't really blame anyone for believing what the poster said about him.

Because Yzak was right, he really did look like a creep.


	3. It sure is windy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny or its characters and names.

A/N: Sorry this chapter took a while. Thank you to those who left reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

* * *

 **The Feud**

 **3**

The doorbell rang and when Athrun opened the door he was greeted by a photo of his own face shoved in his line of vision. Kira stood on the other side, holding it.

'Have you seen this?' his best friend diligently asked.

'Unfortunately, yes,' Athrun replied dully, taking the sheet of paper from Kira. At least that was two down, and however many hundreds that Cagalli put up still left to go. 'Where did you get this from?'

'Lacus gave it to me. She pulled it from one of the girl's restrooms on East Campus. Apparently, it's stuck behind every cubicle door.'

'Fantastic,' Athrun said dryly.

Lacus was the reason why Kira didn't live with them in the share house. Kira had moved in with his girlfriend at the start of sophomore year. They lived a little further away from campus than the share houses just outside college grounds but Kira and Lacus enjoyed a quaint little apartment about 15 minutes away by car.

'I never knew you photographed so terribly before,' his best friend commented. Even Kira had to cringe at the picture in Athrun's hand.

'Believe me, you and me both. Hey, have you talked to Cagalli yet?'

'Not yet. But I'm heading over to see her now. I'll put in a good word for you, buddy.' Kira gave Athrun a reassuring pat then turned to leave. Athrun sighed, wondering what good it could possibly do him now.

* * *

Cagalli Yula Yamato was not in the mood to be disturbed when her brother showed up at her door asking for her. She took solace in the fact that it was Flay who opened the door and there was still enough animosity between them that it caused her brother a great deal of discomfort as he ran up the stairs eager to get away from his ex.

Kira barged into her room without so much as a knock, which annoyed Cagalli even more. She did not have a great start to the term, what with almost stripping naked with her brother's creepy friend watching, having him follow her around on campus and the fact that her brother was still friends with the sociopath, she hadn't been able to concentrate on her studies and was falling behind in class. Not to mention she had been late to work that night when she caught Zala spying, and since it was her third violation (the first for pouring water over a customer for calling her babe, the second for threatening to break a man's nose when he stared at her chest for too long), she had to look for a new job. And now with her curtains drawn all day and night, thanks to Zala again, she was beginning to develop a Vitamin D deficiency.

'I know why you're here.' Cagalli accused when Kira sat down on her bed, bringing his legs up to sit cross-legged.

'Can't a loving brother stop by to see the sister whom he adores?'

Cagalli suppressed an eye roll. 'Spit it out, Kira. I have to get back to studying.'

'Don't you think you're being a little harsh on Athrun?" Kira began, and this time Cagalli did roll her eyes. 'He says it was an accident and he's sorry. Did you really have to stick his photo up all over campus?'

'And you believe him?' she immediately retorted.

'I'm his best friend,' Kira replied as a matter of fact.

'And how well do you know your best friend?'

'I know Athrun better than anyone, and trust me when I say, he wouldn't do something like this. Athrun feels terrible about it, he says he didn't mean for it to happen and I believe him.' Kira pleaded for his best friend's cause, then added with a frown, 'You did leave your curtains open.'

Cagalli ran a hand through her blonde locks. It had been a careless mistake on her part, though it still didn't excuse Athrun Zala's behaviour. 'I know. I forgot to close them, okay?!'

Annoyed at her brother's continuing frown, Cagalli asked, 'Was he the one that gave you that porno mag when we were 16?'

Kira's face suddenly paled. 'How do you know about those?'

'Kira, we shared a room together until we were 17.' Probably not a great idea on their parents' part considering there were many things she'd rather have not known about her brother's journey through puberty, and likely Kira felt the same about her.

'Why did we share a room for that long?'

'Because you were afraid of the dark.'

'I was not afraid of the dark, only the things come out in the dark!' Kira vehemently denied.

Cagalli raised an eyebrow, making her point.

'Besides, you were afraid of unicorns!' Her brother accused.

'Was not!'

'When we were six, you were so afraid that mum and dad would get you a unicorn for your birthday since that's what all the other girls wanted, because you were afraid that you'd fall and impale yourself on its horn.'

'That never happened!'

'Fine then, I was never afraid of the dark.'

When their round of sibling bickering had finished, Kira turned back to the subject at hand. 'Give him some slack, okay? He's really not that bad. And you do have a habit of blowing things out of proportion.' Cagalli was about to protest when Kira replied with, 'Remember sixth grade? You gave Gary Harken a nosebleed.'

'He stole my lunch.'

'You left it on the kitchen counter at home and poor Gary just happened to have the same lunchbox as you.' Kira lectured.

Cagalli grumbled under her breath but didn't protest, acceding to Kira's point. She did irrationally jump the gun sometimes and it was entirely plausible that what Athrun said was true, that he just happened to look out the window at the wrong time. But Cagalli didn't believe that was the entire truth. It might have started as an accident but it didn't end that way.

She recalled the moment she caught him across the window from hers, the way his green eyes had been staring at her with a spark of intensity. It was the prickle of his piercing stare that had made her turn in the first place. 'You weren't here, Kira. You didn't see the way he was looking at me. It was no accident.'

Kira's expression darkened for a split moment, his gaze shifted to the drawn curtains of her window, before turning back to Cagalli.

'Are you sure you need a window?'

* * *

The next day Athrun awoke to the sound of a loud pounding coming from somewhere close. Way too close, as he tried to drown out the noise with his pillow to no avail.

Did Yzak finally decide to fix the door to the bathroom? It had fallen off its hinges some months prior and Yzak had complained the loudest when the landlord still hadn't sent anyone to fix it. They had been using a shower curtain drawn over the doorway as a temporary door, and Athrun had rather gotten used to it by now.

But, no. That wasn't it. Yzak was a stickler for principles and he had refused to let Athrun fix the door when he offered last time, determined it was the responsibility of the landlord to pay for the repairs.

Besides, the noise, although as loud and as nearby as it was, was coming from outside. Athrun begrudgingly crawled out the bed, noting that the sun hadn't risen high enough to cast a glow through the window yet, and pulled open his curtains.

He had to blink a few times to get the sleep out of his eyes to make sure he was seeing clearly, because his best friend stood across from him, one hand holding up a hammer, and the other waving at him with a grin on his face.

'Kira?!' Athrun exclaimed in surprise. 'What are you...?!' He was cut short by Kira gesturing to his phone, then a second later his own started buzzing on his bedside table. Athrun picked it up and turned back to the window.

'Hey, buddy,' his best friend's voice chirped at him from the phone. 'Sorry, didn't want to shout in case we wake the neighbours.' Kira explained, nevermind that his hammering had probably achieved that already.

'What are you doing?' Athrun asked at last, eyes squinting across the way at Kira in Cagalli's bedroom.

'Oh, just boarding up Cagalli's window.' Kira replied casually like it was something that he did everyday.

Athrun was tempted to ask why, but he had a feeling he already knew the reason. Still...having her brother board up her window with wooden planks just to avoid him, was a little extreme wasn't it?

'Hey, I'll catch you later Athrun. I gotta get this done before Cagalli finishes her morning run.' With that Kira hung up. He gave Athrun another wave then continued on with hammering the nails into the piece of wood half obscuring the window across from Athrun.

Athrun stared for a moment longer, groaned, then left Kira to it.

* * *

Stellar stifled a yawn as she pried the newly washed laundry out from the washing machine. She was glad that both Cagalli and Flay were out and that Miri could sleep through an earthquake, because when she let Cagalli's brother into the house, she had no idea he would cause such a ruckus. As it was, Stellar couldn't get back to sleep, so she had decided to get a head start on her chores today.

And it was her turn to do the laundry in the girls' house.

Although Flay preferred washing her boutique bought clothes separately, the other girls of the house decided it would be more time, money, energy, and water efficient if they did their laundry together. She dumped the fresh clothes into a basket and opened the door to the backyard.

'It sure is windy,' Stellar exclaimed as a huge gust of wind blew her hair into her eyes the moment she stepped outside. Then heaved the basket of laundry under her arm, and headed to the clothes line.

* * *

'It sure is windy.' Athrun frowned as he peered his head outside and saw his backyard littered with a mass of dead leaves.

The tree in their yard, Athrun wasn't sure what kind of tree it was, had contracted some kind of tree disease causing its otherwise green leaves to turn brown in spring. It had been steadily shedding its leaves all week and with the sudden pickup in wind this morning, it drove the rest of its leaves onto the floor bed.

Since he was up, Athrun thought he might as well be productive and found an old rake in the half rusted shed at the back. He began piling the leaves into a steadily growing pile, despite the wind threatening to blow it array. It didn't take him too long to finish raking the backyard, since it wasn't a very big yard to begin with and he moved onto the leaf-covered side strip between the house and the fence he shared with the girls' house.

Another burst of wind picked up and Athrun felt his hair whipping about before something came hurling at him from across the fence, dragged unceremoniously by the wind and smacked him in the face.

* * *

Cagalli rounded the bend, keeping her breathing even as she jogged a familiar route along the neighbouring streets. She enjoyed her morning runs, before people and cars crowded the streets, and where the fresh crisp air helped her to think. Her conversation with Kira yesterday played on her mind.

Her brother seemed adamant that his best friend was innocent and given Kira's history with her ex-boyfriends, and indeed any man or boy that looked the slightest bit interested in her, it did seem strange that her overprotective devil of a younger brother would defend Zala in this.

She couldn't help but think that maybe her brother was right. After all, Athrun Zala had to be some kind of saint for her brother to be defending him at all. Maybe it really had been just an accident and no more, despite what her gut reaction told her. And that Athrun Zala was a decent guy caught in the maelstrom of her temper.

So maybe she was a little rash in her judgement, and a little harsh with her actions. In truth, she had felt a little guilty when she plastered Athrun's face all over campus. But at the time she thought he had deserved it and she was doing the women on campus all a favour.

Was she mistaken?

Cagalli pondered on it as she turned and headed back onto her street, having done a loop of the neighbourhood. She slowed down as she came closer to home then squinted when she spotted her brother's car parked in front of her house.

She watched from afar as her brother's car started up and drove off into the distance, unaware that she had seen it. A loud gust of wind howled around her, threatening to unravel her ponytail. Cagalli jogged closer to home.

She was too engrossed in unravelling the mystery of her brother's appearance that she almost missed it. But as she ran past the boys' house, towards her own, she noticed one of the boys was out on the side lawn by the fence they shared.

When she turned to looked properly, any benefit of the doubt she had give Athrun Zala blew away with the wind.

* * *

Athrun started as something soft landed on his face. He pulled it off, trying to discern what it was, but his vision was still half obscured by the hair the wind pushed into his eyes. It was a piece of fabric, that much he could tell and it had a faint pleasant scent. He brought it closer and realised it was the smell of freshly washed laundry. It seemed familiar somehow.

He brushed the hair from his face and his eyes focused on a piece of lace. His eyes focused again, this time on the background and saw Cagalli Yamato standing by the sidewalk staring at him with an open mouth. His first thought was that she looked good in a tank top.

Then his mind reeled and focused back on the item in his hand. Horror struck him as he realised what it was and why it seemed somewhat familiar. In his hand he held a black pair of laced panties, the matching pairing to Cagalli's black laced bra he had seen earlier in the week.

A mere ten metres away, Cagalli's expression of surprise had turned into anger, much like before. She stormed across the lawn towards him, eyes blazing, and Athrun felt himself take a step back.

'It...it's not what it looks like...' Athrun managed to stammer out, caught somewhere between horror, fear and embarrassment.

'How dare you!' Cagalli's voice boomed over his, her hands flew around exasperatedly in a show of anger before it pointed accusingly at him. 'What the hell are you doing with that?! How did you even get it?'

'I was...the leaves...then the wind...' Athrun tried to explain, while trying to make sense of it himself. He unfortunately failed to make a coherent sentence.

'And to think I almost...urghh!' Cagalli let out a scream of rage.

He tried offering the pair of panties back to her at that point, but Cagalli only threw it back in his face.

'You think I'd want that back after it's been touched by you? You are unbelievable Zala! You disgust me! You're the lowest of lows! Just looking at your face makes me want to throw up!' The girl in front of him continued a barrage of verbal assaults at him, then to his horror she got out her phone from her pocket.

Remembering her threat from before, Athrun's heart constricted in panic, thinking she was going to call the police on him, instead a flash blinded him temporarily and by the time it cleared he watched the back of her storm away and disappear into the house next door.

'Oh, no. Oh no no no no no no no! Nooooo! Dammit!' Athrun cursed after her too late. Why? Why?! What had he ever done to deserve this, he wanted to ask. He was left on the lawn, rake in one hand, panties still in the other and completely and utterly _fucked_.

* * *

Sure enough, the next day Dearka handed him a poster, this time the words accompanying his new photo were: ALERT! PANTY THEIF ON THE LOOSE.


	4. A series of unfortunate events

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny, or its characters or names.

A/N: Sorry, I know this took really long! Thank you for those reading and reviewing and for your continued support. I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

* * *

 **The Feud**

 **4**

The four boys huddled in the living room, staring down at the piece of paper lying on the coffee table.

"Wow, that is a terrible photo."

"I don't think I've seen a photo of a more convincing pervert."

"Whose underwear is that?"

Athrun audibly gulped at the last question asked by Kira. The other boys turned their attention away from the scandalous poster of Athrun and towards Athrun himself, each with a curious look in their eyes.

Athrun stared certain death, aka his best friend, in the face, held up his hands and took a slow step back.

"Your sister's," he finally said, when he was certain he had backed away out of reaching distance should Kira choose to try to strangle him.

Kira blinked at him a few times then said, "I must've misheard you, because it sounded like you just said that's my sister's underwear you're holding."

Someone (Dearka) let out a loud whistle.

Kira's confused expression began to turn sour.

Athrun contemplated his chances of making out of this alive. Then Yzak, blessed hallelujah Yzak, took a step in front of Kira, effectively shielding Athrun from the wrath of a purple eyed demon.

"I'm sure Zala has a perfectly good explanation of why he had your sister's underwear," Yzak said steadily to Kira, then turned to Athrun with a look that said, _you better, Zala_.

Athrun gulped again, took what could be the last breath he would ever take in this life, and spluttered out the details of the unfortunate event that had led him to this situation right now, about to be murdered by his best friend, with his housemates looking on as witnesses. When he finished, Athrun bravely looked his best friend in the face only to find Kira had burst out laughing hysterically.

"Oh, is that all?" Kira gave Athrun a slap on the back, but ended up leaning on Athrun for support as he tried to contain his laughing fit. "You should've...told me...earlier. I bet...the expression on...Cagalli's face was p-priceless!" he managed between loud sobs.

"Although...not as priceless as...Z-Zala's right there," Dearka joined in, pointing to the photo of Athrun on the table with his mouth agape, eyes wide in panic, nostrils flared, and a pair of black laced panties in his hand, looking exactly like the panty thief caught in the act that the poster described.

Athrun, momentarily stunned to find himself still alive once again, looked from his best friend, shaking against him from the effort of laughing to his two other friends in the room, who had also simultaneously been consumed with raucous laughter, and frowned. "I don't see how this is funny."

"Are you kidding me? It's the most hilarious thing I've heard all week!" Even Yzak, always serious and righteous Yzark, had turned against him.

Athrun groaned. He had been declared a pervert AND a panty thief by Cagalli. All of campus knew his face now, had been told lies about him, thought the worst of him, and his so-called friends were laughing at his misfortune. Great, just great.

"I'm gonna have to move," Athrun declared solemnly, "and transfer to another college. Start my life over again. Maybe dye my hair." And he needed new friends. Definitely new friends.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Yzak said, when the laughter finally died down. "Although, you sure are unlucky."

"You mean lucky," Dearka corrected with a wink.

Next to Athrun, Kira, who had finally calmed down from his shaking suddenly sobered up. He sent Dearka a disapproving glare which caused the blond to take a step behind Yzak, before turning back to his best friend.

Kira plastered a smile on his face as he wrapped one arm around Athrun's shoulder and patted him on the chest with his other hand. "You've managed to piss off my sister twice now. I don't know how you're still alive, but good on you for making it this far!" he said, a little too cheerfully.

Athrun wasn't sure if Kira was trying to comfort him or not. His best friend after all seemed a little too cheery at the thought of his sister taking out her vengeance and possibly murdering Athrun in his sleep.

"Thanks," Athrun replied, "I think."

* * *

Shinn Asuka stared bleakly up at the student noticeboard, eyes scanning over the various ads and flyers that had been pasted up in the week since college resumed. To say he had a good start to the new semester was a vast vast overstatement. In fact, Shinn would bet good money that no one has had a worse start to the new term than he did.

(Shinn has yet to meet Athrun Zala.)

He had returned to college to find that somehow all his student records had been lost during the administration record's server migration over the semester break. He had not been enrolled into his classes, no accommodation on campus had been arranged for him, his grades and attendance for his last semester of study were lost, in fact there were no records of his existence at all!

He had spent the first two days of semester chasing after his professors from last semester in order to prove that he did indeed attend their classes, spent the next two days trying to organise his timetable and enrol into whatever classes were still available, and spent the rest of his time trying to find a place to live, since all on-campus housing had been filled. There wasn't much he could afford off-campus and his search had been fruitless so far. (Shinn had been sleeping in his car the past week.)

And as his luck would have it, it just so happened that when he lost his footing in the cafeteria earlier, partially due to another restless night of sleep, partially because Shinn was still going through that stage in his adolescence where he was awkward in everything he did, he bumped into a girl in front of him, effectively spilling his extra-large caramel-chocolate-double creamed thick shake all over the front of the girl's dress. He had to flee from the cafeteria like his life depended on it (it probably did, considering the scream of fury and outrage the girl let loose upon seeing the wreckage of her previously stain-free and masterfully curated outfit), and spent the entire morning hiding and dodging from the banshee who was sure to skin him alive over some spilt milk.

Shinn sighed as he dropped his head in resignation to his rotten luck and another night in his tiny cramped second hand car, when from the corner of his eye he spotted the word 'house' barely visible and peeking out from underneath a poster about some creep stealing girls' panties. When he lifted the poster of the creep, the word 'house' turned into 'housemate' followed with 'wanted' and suddenly just like that his luck was about to change.

(Although, maybe not for the better.)

* * *

The doorbell rang in the boys' house. Dearka opened it, took one look at the boy standing at his doorstep and said, "Whatever cult you're into, I'm not interested in joining."

"Uh, what? I mean no, I'm not in a cult," the kid stammered then held up an advertisement. "Are you still looking for a housemate?"

Dearka's face lit up immediately. "Yes we are." He gave the boy another look over, decided that even if the kid turned out to be a homicidal maniac, he was scrawny enough that Dearka could take him, and said, "when can you move in?"

* * *

Athrun ducked out of class as soon as the hour was up, lowering his head the whole time as he made his way off campus grounds. He needed a caffeine fix if he was to stay awake for the next lecture on International Routing Protocols. His favourite coffee joint on campus, was unfortunately on campus.

That was the problem.

Ever since Cagalli's first stint at ruining his reputation, it had become increasingly difficult to remain on campus. As if it wasn't bad enough with the looks of disgust thrown his way as he walked down the corridors, and the whispers of 'pervert' behind his back, but ever since he was proclaimed a panty thief (with photographic evidence to back it up, no less, to his upmost dismay) all the shops on campus had refused to serve him. In fact, just this morning when he walked into his usual cafe, there was his face pasted up on the wall next to the daily specials and the words 'ALL WELCOME HERE, EXCEPT CREEPS'. Athrun, whose face had turned ghostly pale, had abruptly turned on his heels and ran out before anyone got a good look at him.

Athrun gave a deep sigh as he pushed open the door to the first coffee place he found outside college grounds. As he stepped in, no one turned to glare at him or give him sneers. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to not be disliked so thoroughly by the people around him, that an invisible weight felt as if it had been lifted from his shoulders. No one here knew who he was, or cared about who he was. Athrun was able to briefly pretend that his life wasn't practically over at the tender age of twenty.

"A long black to go, please," he ordered when he reached the front of the line.

"Name?"

"Athrun."

"Won't be long, sir," the girl at the counter informed, then actually smiled at him, before passing his order onto the barista behind her.

Athrun smiled back, surprised he could still remember what a smile looked like after the week in hell he had, paid for his order, then stepped to the side to wait for his coffee.

After a few minutes and a few names, he heard someone call out something that vaguely sounded like his name.

"Assrun! _ASS_ -RUN!"

Athrun frowned. Maybe the barista had a lisp. Or maybe the girl at the counter misheard his name when she took his order. Either way, Athrun didn't think much of it as he squeezed his way to the front again.

"That's me," he said as he reached the counter.

The barista holding his coffee lifted her head, and her cap, which had previously concealed half her face revealed two amber glinted eyes of a she-demon glaring back at him.

Athrun watched in stunned silence, as the barista, who turned out to be none other than Cagalli Yamato, lifted the lid to his cup then spat in it.

"Here you go, Ass," she happily chirped, replacing the lid and handing the coffee to him with a smile on her face.

Athrun stared at the offending coffee she had just spat into and decided he had enough. He had been apologetic, he had tried to explain, he had been understanding of her point of view, and despite everything he had not sought a confrontation with her because his mother raised him better than that. But enough was enough. His reputation was in tatters, his peers thought the worst of him, he had practically been driven off campus, and to have to suffer at the hands of her abuse here too? When he was simply trying to get a cup of coffee because no one on campus would serve him?!

Athrun took a deep breath, gathered the rising storm of fury inside of him, opened his mouth and said, "I'd like to speak to your manager, please."

* * *

Athrun didn't consider himself to be a vengeful or cruel person who delighted in other's misery (although he was beginning to suspect that perhaps his best friend was), but he couldn't help but feel a certain satisfaction when he saw Cagalli being called to the back of the store by the manager to be reprimanded. And when he heard the muffled shouts coming from the backroom, the satisfaction turned into a petty glee.

The female employee who had initially taken his order apologised profusely to him, telling him that the barista was only new here and was in no way representative of the way they treat their customers. She offered to make him another coffee on the house to which Athrun gladly accepted. Meanwhile the shouts escalated behind them until it culminated with a "You can't fire me! I quit!" followed by a ruffled sound of fabric hitting the floor in what must have been a dramatic display of Cagalli throwing her apron down in all her fury. And Athrun sipped his coffee in delight as he exited the cafe.

His elevated mood was only temporary however. As soon as he rounded the corner of the coffee shop, he bumped into the feisty blonde who had just finished slamming the door closed to the store's back entrance on her way out.

They collided into each other in a tangle of limbs.

Athrun fell on his back. Cagalli fell on top of him. And for a long moment both of them laid there without moving.

He was vaguely aware of the position of his hands, wrapped firmly around Cagalli's waist in a subconscious, last minute attempt to steady Cagalli before she fell. A lot of good that did, she fell on top of him anyways and Athrun suddenly became more acutely aware of the soft warm press of her body against his. How much smaller she actually was, compared to the larger than life persona she exuded. A traitorous part of him thought, this was quite nice.

When Cagalli stirred, Athrun's senses returned to him and immediately dropped his hands, letting go of Cagalli. Cagalli lifted her head off Athrun's chest where it had been resting. Dazed, her eyes lost its hard edge as she stared into his as if trying to puzzle something out. He saw the exact moment of recognition on her face, signalled by the fire returning to her glare.

Cagalli righted herself, not caring in the least that her elbow dug into his ribcage or that her knee pressed unnerving close to his nether regions as she pushed herself off him.

"Watch where you're going!" she said, never mind it was her who crashed into him and knocked him into the ground.

Athrun groaned and got up. He was not exactly thrilled to have bumped into Cagalli either despite what traitorous thoughts might have momentarily flashed across his mind.

"Thanks a lot, pervert. You just got me fired!" Cagalli was quick to accuse.

"I thought you quit," he quipped back.

He received a growl in response.

Cagalli bent down to pick up her scattered belongings, when she straightened again she pointed an accusatory finger against his chest. "This is all your fault, Zala."

"My fault?!" he cried in disbelief. "You SPAT into my coffee!"

Speaking of which, the coffee he had been happily sipping had spilt between the two of them, staining his blue shirt a dark colour and making Cagalli's white blouse brown and at the same time translucent. He could just make out the hint of a white laced bra underneath, as Cagalli stood in front of him hyperventilating with anger. Athrun did his best to avoid his eyes.

"I wouldn't have spat into your coffee, if you weren't such a creep and stole my lingerie!"

"I did NOT steal your underwear!" Athrun said exasperatedly and tried to explain, "The wind blew your laundry across the fence, and it landed on me, that's all!" As he said it aloud, he realised how pathetic of an excuse that sounded.

Cagalli raised one sceptical eyebrow at him, clearly thinking exactly that. "Oh yeah? That doesn't explain why I caught you sniffing it."

Athrun opened his mouth to protest but couldn't. In a flash of horror, Athrun recalled that yes, yes he did in fact smell the piece of black lace which turned out to be his best friend's sister's underwear. But…BUT he didn't know what it was at the time! His vision had been obscured by his hair and he thought he smelt a faint scent and unconsciously sniffed it some more to discern what it was! Yet how could he possibly explain any of that to Cagalli without it coming across as an excuse and incriminating himself some more? As it was, he was having a hard time justifying to himself why he sniffed it in the first place. Instead, Athrun remained silent which Cagalli was sure to take as a sign of his guilt.

"You know what, Zala? You're right," Cagalli said all of a sudden, causing Athrun to be at a total loss for words. Never in a million years would he think that Cagalli would agree with him on anything. In fact, he was pretty sure she was just the type of person who would disagree with him even if she agreed with him. When Cagalli spoke again, her voice was a solemn calm. "You reap what you sow. I got fired from my job, you get called out for the creep you are," she said and walked off.

* * *

Yzak's face was a masterpiece of discontent. Although many would say his face always looked grumpy (and they would be right), they had not seen Yzak truly on a short string. Yzak's scowl turned deeper as he spotted the poster on the student noticeboards and promptly tore it down. Despite having laughed at Athrun's misfortune earlier, Yzak wasn't laughing now. He had thought that this would have all blown over by now, but things looked like they were only going to get worse. He had seen Athrun dash out of class earlier and hurry out of campus like a shamed criminal and it bothered him that his friend had to hide when he had done nothing wrong.

So when Yzak saw the blonde culprit behind it all standing by the water station, he decided that if Athrun wasn't going to confront Cagalli Yamato, he would.

"HEY, YOU! YES YOU!" he said when the blonde looked at him startled and confused. Yzak marched right up to her and towered over her. "HOW DARE YOU TREAT INNOCENT PEOPLE LIKE THIS?!" He wagged the piece of paper he had ripped from the noticeboard in her face. "SHAME ON YOU! SMEARING PEOPLE'S NAMES LIKE THAT! DRAGGING THEM THROUGH THE MUD! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT SHOULD BE ASHAMED! IF YOU'RE A DECENT HUMAN BEING YOU WOULD TAKE BACK ALL THE FILTH AND LIES YOU'VE TOLD, AND APOLOGISE RIGHT AWAY!"

He expected a retaliation, a verbal assault back like he had seen her do with Athrun, but instead Cagalli Yamato stood frozen, eyes enlarged, almost like she was frightened of him. Then he saw her lower lip wobble.

"Ah," Yzak backed away slowly, "right. Just think about what I said."

* * *

When Athrun returned to class for his next lecture, Yzak sidled next to him and said, "I don't think Cagalli Yamato will give you any more trouble."

Perplexed, Athrun was about to ask his friend what exactly he meant by that, when their professor walked in and the lecture theatre turned silent. He quickly forgot about it as what Yzak said was ludicrous anyways. He was pretty sure Cagalli had two middle names, one was Trouble with a capital T, and the other was NEVER CONCEDE DEFEAT in all caps.

* * *

Cagalli NEVER CONCEDE DEFEAT Yamato was not in a good mood when she stomped back into the house two hours earlier than she had planned, all thanks to a blue haired creep her brother liked to hang out with. Granted, part of it was her own fault, and as she had told Zala earlier she accepted the consequences of her actions but it didn't mean that she couldn't still be mad about it.

The galls of Zala! To think he could just waltz up to her workplace and expect her to serve him after what he did. How did he even find out where she worked? Did that traitor brother of hers tell him?

Speaking of Kira, Cagalli couldn't believe that this was the same brother who pushed a boy over in fourth grade for pulling on her hair. Athrun Zala's crimes were far worse and her brother seemed content to stand by him.

Cagalli stalked right to the kitchen, opened the fridge and took out a six pack of beer.

By the time Miriallia came home from her shift at the supermarket, she was already on her fourth bottle.

Her friend raised a curious eyebrow at her, upon spotting the empty bottles. "Are we celebrating or are we sulking?"

"I got fired from my job."

"You got fired on your first day?"

"Yeah, but it was worth it."

"Cagalli!" Miriallia reprimanded. "That's your third job this month! Need I remind you, you need an income to pay rent, and you know, to survive?"

Cagalli didn't need to be reminded, she was fully aware that she needed a job in order to support herself, and that she was quickly running out of places to work at.

Miriallia shook her head then sighed in resignation. She grabbed a bottle of beer for herself and sat down at the table. "What did you do this time?"

At the question, a small smile rose up on Cagalli's face. "I spat in Zala's coffee."

There was split second of silence before Miriallia clinked her bottle against Cagalli's and said, "You go sister!"

"I told you it was worth it." The smile was bright on Cagalli's face now as she and Miriallia toasted to the small revenge on Athrun Zala.

They heard the clunk of heels on the floorboards, and a few seconds later Flay stormed into the kitchen looking like a complete mess. Which, in the two years Cagalli had known Flay, was unheard of. Flay never looked anything less than perfect.

"What happened?" both Cagalli and Miriallia asked at the same time.

The red head took a deep breath and gritted out very slowly, "Some sulky goth kid. In the cafeteria. Spilled a concoction of STICKY. DISGUSTING. POOP coloured sludge ALL over me." She indicated to her brown soiled dress that Cagalli recalled was a vibrant pink just this morning. "If I. EVER. See that kind again. I will kick his SHINY. LITTLE. ASS. To the moon."

When she finished, Cagalli pushed the last remaining bottle in Flay's direction. Flay reached for it and plopped herself down next to the other girls.

"Hell hath no fury than a woman who had her outfit ruined." Miriallia raised a toast and the girls all drank to it.

Another clunk on the floorboards indicated that Stellar was home. When the other blonde entered the kitchen, all three girls could sense that something was not right. Stellar, who was usually in high spirits was noticeably glum and quiet as she joined the girls at the table.

"Stellar?" Cagalli inquired.

Miriallia got up from the table and got out a glass, pouring some lemonade in before placing it in front of Stellar. Stellar took a sip, taking her time to collect her thoughts.

"One of the boys from next door, came up to me during break today," she finally divulged.

"Which one?"

"The one that's always grumpy. He started yelling at me in the middle of the courtyard."

"What did he say to you?"

"I'm not sure. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but he called me a liar and said I should be ashamed of myself. Then he demanded that I apologise to him."

"Why would he do that?"

"I don't know. I don't know what I've done to offend him."

Stellar sniffed.

Cagalli slammed her empty bottle on the table in anger.

Flay put an arm around Stellar.

"I can't believe he did that!"

"Those boys next door have some answering to do!"

Just as Miriallia finished her last word, they heard a loud engine noise outside. All four girls got up from their seats and peered outside the kitchen window. They saw a crummy old car pull to a stop outside the boys' house. The engine sputtered for a few seconds before dying down and a boy got out. A second later, Dearka walked out to greet him.

"That's him!" Flay suddenly exclaimed next to them.

"Who? Elsman?"

"The one with the hair in his eyes."

"The scrawny emo one?"

"The one who owns the shiny little ass I'm gonna kick."

"Hey, it looks like he's moving in next door."

The girls watched in curious interest as Dearka helped the new boy carry a box of belongings out of his car.

"What the hell," Cagalli muttered upon seeing the two boys walk into the sharehouse. Then the wheels started turning in her head. Zala shows up at her work, his housemate verbally abuses Stellar at college, and now, it turns out the guy who ruined Flay's dress is a part of their gang?

Cagalli, Miriallia, Flay and Stellar turned to each other, all beginning to suspect the same thing: this was no mere coincidence.

"If the boys think they can get away with this," Flay began.

Cagalli's eyes narrowed just as Athrun Zala appeared into view, walking up the street.

"They've got another thing coming," Cagalli announced.

* * *

Athrun got to his front door and stopped. He patted his pockets, then his bag, then checked again and couldn't find his keys. Just his luck! He probably dropped it when Cagalli collided into him earlier in the day. Athrun pressed the doorbell, hoping Dearka was home to let him in, and not spending his free time at the pub or down at the supermarket hassling Miriallia Hawwe like he usually did.

When the door finally opened, a stranger greeted him from his own home.

"Hello," Athrun said hesitantly. He had to double check that he was in fact at his own house.

"Hello," the boy greeted back.

There was a stilted silence in which the boy narrowed his eyes at Athrun, then a second later asked, "Do I know you?"

Athrun was pretty sure that was supposed to be his question. "I don't think so?" Then he spotted Dearka walking past the corridor in the background and pushed himself inside.

"Elsman!" Athrun called out, "Uhh, who's the kid?"

"Oh!" Dearka doubled back and placed an arm around the boy's shoulder. "Athrun Zala meet our new housemate, Shinn Asuka."

"We have a new housemate?" Athrun asked confused.

"We sure do. He moved in today."

"I can see that. Does Yzak know we have a new housemate?"

"He sure doesn't," Dearka replied.

Athrun didn't comment. He honestly didn't mind. A new housemate will help keep down the rent. Yzak was the one who liked to interview any potential housemates about 20 times before he gave his approval (which explained why they've had a spare room for so long, by the time any potential housemates have reached the third interview they've already decided that they don't want to live with Yzak anyways).

The boys were about to move to the lounge room when the doorbell rang again. Athrun turned back to open the door. There was no one there, instead a red envelope was stuck to the door.

His name, _Zala_ , was written on the front in a black marker. Curious and a little cautious, Athrun pulled it off and opened it.

If Athrun didn't think his life could get any worse than it already was, then he was horribly mistaken, because inside the envelope was a note which read:

 _You and your friends have gone too far this time._

 _THIS IS WAR._


	5. Mr Rogers

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny.

A/N: Hello! It's been a while, sorry this chapter has taken so long. I hope it's worth the wait. Please leave a review if you can, so I know that people are still reading and enjoying this fic. Thank you :)

* * *

 **The Feud**

 **5**

"Yup. That's definitely my sister's handwriting," Kira confirmed.

Athrun stared back down at the piece of paper in his hands, no less confused than a second ago. THIS IS WAR. "What does it even mean?"

Dearka peeked his head over Athrun's shoulder. "It means you're screwed, dude."

"Actually, it means you're all screwed," Kira corrected, then pointed a finger to the part that said _you and your friends_.

"What? What did we do?!" Yzak piped from the kitchen, seemingly indignified.

Kira shrugged. "Guilty by association."

"Shouldn't that include you on the list then?"

"I get brotherly immunity," Cagalli's brother replied with a wide grin on his face.

"Oh, so not fair!" Grumbled Dearka as he plopped himself down on his favourite spot on the couch.

Meanwhile Athrun continued staring at the piece of paper in his hands, amidst the growing complaints from his friends. It was not that Athrun doubted that Cagalli was the sort of person who could unjustly and ruthlessly tear down the innocent, he himself was an example. But Cagalli had considered her actions justified from her point of view and her anger so far had all been directed at Athrun, so what had changed?

Athrun read through the words one more time.

 _You and your friends have gone too far this time._

Something pricked at Athrun's memory. He called out to Yzak who was still in the kitchen.

"Uhh Yzak? What did you mean yesterday when you said Cagalli won't trouble me anymore?"

Yzak finally appeared from the kitchen in a floral apron (a housewarming gift from Kira's girlfriend, Lacus) and a rolling pin in one hand (Yzak was an avid baker). "Well clearly I was wrong," he announced irritably.

"Cleary," Athrun agreed. "But what did you mean by it?"

"Ah well, I confronted Kira's sister, told her what she had been doing to you was wrong and that she should apologise for it." Athrun then watched as Yzak scratched the back of his head. "I honestly thought she took it to heart. She looked like she was really upset over the way she treated you."

Athrun saw Cagalli yesterday and there was not a sorry bone in her body. And he knew because he had briefly held Cagalli and all the bones in her body when she and her clearly not-sorry bones fell on top of him.

Athrun narrowed his eyes. "Umm, when was this?"

"Yesterday, when you ducked out. During the break between Applied Geotechnics and International Routing Protocols."

Athrun's eyes narrowed some more. "Yzak? What does Kira's sister look like?"

Yzak gave him a weird look like he just asked a particularly stupid question. "Blonde hair, shoulder length, about yey high. Purple eyes like Kira's."

Upon hearing the last bit, Athrun's hand went straight to his forehead making a loud smacking sound. Yzak looked around from one boy to the next and perplexed at the silence asked uncertainly, "No?"

Kira shook his head. "My sister doesn't have purple eyes."

"She has amber eyes," Athrun supplied further. "Like flecks of gold against a burnt autumn orange."

"Most people don't notice the gold, they usually describe Cagalli's eyes as brown." Kira stated rather matter-of-factly before whipping his head around to Athrun suddenly. "How much attention have you been paying to my sister's eyes?"

Athrun ignored Kira. "You just described Stellar," he informed Yzak.

"Who's Stellar?" The baker asked no less confused.

"Stellar Louiser? She's only been living next door to us since we moved in."

Now more confused than ever, Yzak held out his hand and started counting his fingers. "There's Cagalli, Kira's sister. What's her name...Hawwe...the girl Elsman keeps on harassing. The red head." He stopped his count at three and stared back at his friends. "That's all three of them."

Athrun felt like slapping his head again, if his hand wasn't already permanently glued there. "There are four girls living next door," he explained to the oblivious Yzak. "Cagalli, Miriallia Hawwe, Flay Allster, and Stellar Louiser."

"Who?" Yzak asked again.

Just then as if the devil had been summoned, both Cagalli and Stellar walked past the living room window right in front of Yzak's line of sight.

Yzak's crystal blue eyes enlarged to the size of tennis balls and his jaws dropped open. He looked like his mind had just been blown. He lifted a shaky finger and pointed. "There's...two of them," he said rather unsteadily.

Athrun was pretty certain by now that this was probably the first time that Yzak had ever seen Cagalli and Stellar in the same space together. He was pretty sure that all the other times Yzak had seen either Stellar or Cagalli he had assumed they were the same person. He was also fairly confident that if it wasn't for the physical constraints of the human body, Yzak's jaws would be touching the ground right now instead of hanging two inches lower than where they usually sat.

Yzak turned an accusatory glance towards Kira as if Kira had somehow forgotten to mention to them all that he had a third twin hidden away somewhere.

Kira shook his head perceptibly from left to right to answer the unasked question and that was when Yzak exploded.

"BUT THEY LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME!"

"I just told you, my sister doesn't have purple eyes, she has amber eyes," Kira admonished.

"HOW IS THE ONE WITH THE PURPLE EYES NOT THE ONE RELATED TO YOU?" Yzak pointed an accusing finger towards Kira's own purple set.

Athrun's best friend gave a shrug of the shoulders. "We're not identical twins you know."

Yzak turned back to the window where Cagalli and Stellar were still visible, clearly thinking that the two girls should be identical twins, then collapsed onto the armchair just behind him, one hand clutching his hair, the rolling pin still in his other.

The other three boys in the room watched in silence as Yzak opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, then closed it. This went on for a few cycles as their friend struggled to digest his new reality when suddenly he bolted upright with a look of horrified realisation on his face.

"THAT MEANS I ACCUSED THE WRONG PERSON YESTERDAY. I HAVE TO GO AND APOLOGISE!"

Before Athrun could tell his friend that perhaps now is not the best time and he should calm down first. And before Athrun could warn him that when he gets emotional his face tends to scrunch up like a troll and his voice tends to elevate to an off putting loudness, Yzak was already out the door.

Athrun, Kira and Dearka watched helplessly as Yzak approached Stellar and Cagalli who stood by the sidewalk chatting. A stricken anticipation filled Athrun's stomach all of a sudden. It was like watching a horror movie, knowing something bad was going to happen but unable to stop it.

Outside, Yzak stopped in front of Stellar and started shouting a string of words into her face, startling the poor girl.

From their view from the window, the boys watched as Stellar started to back away from Yzak, and Yzak oblivious to the poor girl's fright leaned forward even more, towering over her. The rolling pin he was still holding waved exaggeratedly in the air above Stellar's head. He continued to hound the girl with a barrage of high volumed words. If anyone looked out of their window right now they would see an angry white haired troll about to clobber two poor innocent village girls and have them for supper.

Stellar kept backing away and Yzak kept advancing. From this distance, Athrun could just make out the beginnings of a wobble in Stellar's bottom lip. And that was when Cagalli stepped in from behind. Placed herself in front of Stellar in a protective manner.

Then punched Yzak in the face.

* * *

It was safe to say that the boys were cowards. It wasn't until Cagalli was completely out of sight did they dare venture outside to their front lawn to drag their wounded comrade back into the house.

Currently, Yzak lay half sitting and half splayed out on the living room couch with a bag of frozen peas covering his face, and groaning every now and then to indicate that he was still alive. His rolling pin lay on the lawn outside where he dropped it when he was felled by the blonde she-devil but his apron was still neatly tied to his waist.

"Mhh yoooo ssssss annn deee vooo," Yzak mumbled on the couch.

"What?" Athrun leaned in.

"I saaad yooo sssisssta sss tha devooo."

"Hmm?" Kira leaned in closer.

This time Yzak lifted the bag of peas from his face and said again, "I said your sister's the devil."

"Oh, I knew that already." Kira leaned back into the armchair he was occupying.

"So, let me get this straight," Dearka commented from where he sat on the other side of Yzak. "Zala perved on Yamato's sis, Joule there turned ogre on the wrong girl, and now the girls next door have a vendetta against us. I still don't get what I did to deserve being lumped into this," he bemoaned rather loudly lifting a finger to poke at Yzak's swelling left cheek before Yzak flung his bag of peas at him.

Ducking, Dearka avoided being hit and got up to pick up the discarded bag of vegetables, before heading into the kitchen.

Athrun exchanged a glance between Kira and Yzak. "We all agree that Dearka offended Miriallia Hawwe right?" Athrun said once Dearka was out of earshot.

Yzak scoffed. "Elsman offends her on a daily basis. The question is what didn't he do to deserve it."

Dearka returned handing Yzak a bag of frozen carrots this time, and sat himself back down within the group. He let out a loud whistle.

"Man, that sister of yours is scary."

"To this day, I still don't know how I survived to adulthood."

"You're exaggerating."

"Wanna see the scars?"

Kira lifted up his shirt. Then proceeded to relay, rather cheerfully, the horror stories of his childhood. Athrun sat, half listening with abject horror, and half disbelieving what his best friend was saying, while Dearka and Yzak ooohed and aaaahed at each discolouration of the skin Kira pointed to.

"Whoa. Are those teeth marks?"

"Sure is. She bit me there when we were two years old when I wouldn't share my cookie."

"That is hardcore!"

"Did I mention she's a black belt?"

When Kira finally finished talking and effectively scared the living daylights out of the other boys in the room, he got up and announced he was leaving.

Athrun walked his best friend to the door and said, "That sister of yours is going to be the death of me."

Kira gave his best friend a pat on the back. "I know."

* * *

It had been five days since Cagalli's declaration of war, four days since she attacked Yzak, and four nights since Athrun had felt safe in his own home (after all, the devil lived just next door). He had spent the entire week on high alert, jumping every time the door bell rang, watching his back at every turn, not knowing when Cagalli was going to strike and what indeed she would do next.

By the time Athrun got home from class that afternoon, he was exhausted. The proclamation of THIS IS WAR was never far from his mind. If completely destroying his reputation was what she had done before declaring war, he wasn't looking forward to finding out what she would do now that war had been declared.

The tension in his back was killing him as Athrun walked into the kitchen to get a drink. His eyes immediately landed on an offending image on the wall, the fact it was his own image didn't make it any less offensive.

"ELSMAN!" Athrun cried out in fury, ducking his head into the hallway and calling up the staircase. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop putting my poster up over the house?!"

He headed back to the kitchen when a sound behind him startled him. Spinning around, Athrun relaxed when he saw it was just their new housemate Shinn Asuka.

Shinn greeted him as he walked over to the fridge and grabbed himself a carton of milk. Athrun watched as Shinn pulled out a box from the cupboard and proceeded to eat cereal late in the afternoon, and thought, what a strange kid.

He hadn't seen much of their new housemate since he moved in. Shinn holed himself up in his room in the day, only coming out to get food, and leaving the house once it got dark, that Athrun hardly remembered he was there. Though that didn't stop Yzak from immediately placing Shinn on probation once he found out Dearka had allowed a new housemate in without his approval. And when the poor boy asked when the probation will be over, Yzak had replied with "never".

"Ah," Shinn looked up from his breakfast, "I'm expecting a delivery, if it arrives after I leave, can you sign for me?"

"Sure."

Shinn opened his mouth to say thanks, but stopped short, staring at something just behind Athrun. He shifted his eyes from Athrun to the spot behind him and back again, mouth still agape, then lifted a finger and pointed.

"You're..." Shinn managed to get out just as Athrun turned around to see what the younger boy was looking at only to remember that he hadn't taken the poster of himself off the wall yet.

"You're...the pervert...from campus," Shinn finished, looking like he had finally figured out where he had seen Athrun's face before.

"No!" Athrun was quick to deny. "It's all a lie!"

Shinn's eyes turned back to the poster, clearly noting the pair of panties in Athrun's guilty hands in the photograph and continued looking at Athrun like he had just spotted a criminal.

"Uhh...right," the younger boy muttered before quickly finishing his bowl of cereal, then backed out of the kitchen, mumbling that he had to get to class, probably thinking what the hell he had just gotten himself into, sharing a house with a notorious creep.

Athrun sighed, turning back to the poster and cursing Dearka under his breath as he ripped it off the wall. He consoled himself that at least that was one less poster of him hanging up on the campus walls, or wherever Dearka had managed to steal it from in the first place.

When he left the kitchen he found Shinn Asuka crouched below the living room window as if hiding from something, and thought again, what a strange kid, just as Flay Allster walked past outside.

* * *

"So, nothing?" Yzak inquired as he, Athrun and Dearka sat around a box of pizza that evening.

He was already receiving jeers, sneers and whispers behind his back, that came with being the designated pervert on campus. Aside from the usual, and Athrun was loathe to admit that his peers' contempt had become the usual, he hadn't noticed anything different.

Athrun shook his head. Next to him, Dearka reached for another slice of pizza.

"What are they waiting for?" Yzak asked highly suspicious.

They had spent the past four nights huddled over the dining table, trying to figure out what the girls were planning. And so far nothing. All was silent on the war front. It was as if they were deliberately torturing them with the anticipation of their attack. If that was their real plan, Athrun had to admit that it was working. He hadn't slept in five days.

Yzak appeared equally as tense next to him. And who could blame him. He had been on the receiving end of what Kira described as 'Cagalli's right hook of death'. And if Kira's stories were to be believed, she once felled a senior twice her size during a karate competition with a single strike. Yzak had been sporting a rather fashionable bruise on his left cheek in an eye catching purple for the past four days and jumped every time a blonde walked past him.

Just what were they waiting for? Athrun wondered. After all, from his dealings with Cagalli so far, she had not seemed the kind of person to idle around. She had after all managed to paste pictures up of him all over campus with no delay, on both occasions, and wasted no time in sending her declaration of war.

Just as Athrun was pondering this, the doorbell rang causing all three boys to jump in their seats. They eyed each other wearily, silently daring the other to answer it, when finally both Yzak and Dearka nudged hard enough at Athrun that he got up from his seat.

Walking towards the door, Athrun was filled with a sense of dread. Nothing well seemed to bode out of him answering the door, not since the first night Cagalli had knocked on it. When he opened it, a delivery man stood on the other side, holding a shoe sized boxed.

"Are you Mr Rogers?"

"Uhh...no..."

The delivery man looked back down at his clipboard. "Well, it says, can be signed for by resident of the address, you're gonna have to do kid," the delivery man announced before handing the clipboard to Athrun with a pen.

"Umm...what is it?" Athrun inquired as he signed hesitantly.

"All it says on here is Mr Rogers," the delivery man replied as he took the clipboard back, shoved the box into Athrun's chest and was gone a second later, leaving Athrun with a suspiciously mysterious package in his hands.

Yzak and Dearka poked their heads around from the kitchen to stare at him wearily. "What is it?" They asked nervously from a distance. The cowards.

Athrun walked back to the kitchen and placed it onto the dining table. "Your guess is as good as mine."

The boys scrutinised the package before them, the word FRAGILE was written in capitals across the box. There was some more eyeing and nudging between them, before Dearka reached a tentative hand out to open it. Just as his hand touched the box something within it moved, causing Dearka to fling the box halfway across the room where it landed on the floor and toppled over.

"What was that?!" Dearka exclaimed, one hand pointing, the other hand over his chest in fright.

Heart beating wildly, Athrun approached the box cautiously when it moved again. This time the lid fell open and one fat hairy black finger crawled out from within.

Someone in the room screamed.

Another fat finger emerged followed by another, then twelve beady black eyes poked out from the opening.

There was a tense moment of silence before a chuckle filled the room.

"Oh it's just a spider," Yzak laughed with relief. He walked over and picked up the box then immediately threw it across the room again. "HOLY SHIT! IT'S AS BIG AS MY FACE!"

The said spider, a humongous, black, and furry creature of nightmares, crawled out from inside and skittered across the floor with alarming speed.

A few more screams erupted before someone shouted, "Get it! Get it!" and all three boys scrambled around the room madly trying to catch the agile legged creature. The spider with its ever watchful eyes, scurried out of the way as the boys crashed into the furniture and into each other.

When Athrun was finally able to trap it back underneath the box it came in, huffing, out of breath and sore in the ribs thanks to Dearka's elbow colliding into him, Yzak asked perplexed, "Why would Cagalli send us a spider?"

Athrun stared back at the box in equal confusion, when he noticed the tiny print under the word FRAGILE that he had missed earlier.

"I don't think this is Cagalli's doing," Athrun indicated to the words _Property of Shinn Asuka_ written on the box and remembered Shinn had mentioned expecting a delivery earlier. A quick look to Yzak's face, said that Yzak was already evaluating Shinn's probation.

Athrun let out a loud sigh, not of relief but of increased frustration. He almost wished it had been Cagalli's doing, because at least then the suspense would be over.

"Well shit. That means we still don't know what we're up against," Dearka voiced what Athrun had been thinking.

Athrun lifted up the box and placed it back on the table. "I'm not exactly keen on waiting around to find out." Somewhere between having his reputation ruined, being run off campus, having to watch his back at every turn and thinking assassinating spiders had been sent after him, Athrun was sick of waiting around for bad things to happen to him.

The box wiggled once more on the table and the three boys exchanged a look.

If he was still the man his mother raised him to be, he would have been appalled by the next thought that ran through his mind. But Athrun Zala was beyond that man, he was now the man Cagalli made him. A highly-strung, resentful and very sleep deprived man.

So when Dearka said, "You know what they say, the best defence is offence," Athrun did not object.

* * *

The doorbell rang in the girls' house and Cagalli groaned from her makeshift study desk on the kitchen table, hoping someone else would answer it. When no one did, Cagalli hazily remembered that she was the only one home. Sighing, she lifted her head off the textbook she had been using as a pillow and made her way to the door.

Opening the door, a plain package the size of a shoebox sat by the doorstep. The word FRAGILE was written across it in large type. Cagalli picked it up without a second thought and brought it inside, placing it on the kitchen bench before going back to the table to resume her studies, this time determined not to fall asleep.

She had only sat back down for a few minutes when Miriallia walked through the door, and greeted Cagalli in the kitchen.

"Where have you been?" Cagalli muttered, on her way to falling asleep once more as she peeked her head over her textbook, _A Brief Overview of Economic Politics_. (It was not brief. It was 1000 pages long and Cagalli would happily clobber anyone over the head with it for calling it brief). She had hardly seen her best friend in the past week.

Miriallia plopped herself down on the chair next to Cagalli. "Night shifts at the supermarket," she replied, yawning at the same time as Cagalli.

"All week?"

"Uh huh." Miriallia nodded. "But it's okay, I requested it. Elsman figured out my regular shift hours. Was hoping to avoid him so he would stop harassing me at work and holding up the line."

"Did it work?"

"Nope," Miriallia sighed. "He figured out I was taking night shifts, so now I'm back on afternoon shifts."

"Urghhh."

"My sentiments exactly." The brunette got up again, rummaging through the cupboards for a snack. When she turned back around to Cagalli, with a packet of Doritos on hand, she said, "Oh, by the way, I saw Joule from next door on campus today. He had a huge purple bruise on the left side of his face, and when he saw me looking he turned around and ran in the other direction. What's that about?"

It was then that Cagalli realised, she really hadn't seen Miriallia in the past week and hadn't had a chance to tell her what happened.

"Yeah, about that," Cagalli said hesitantly. "I might have punched him in the face."

Miriallia's chewing stopped momentarily. "Say that again?"

"I punched Joule in the face."

"You did what!?" Miriallia exclaimed, sitting back down again, and this time leaning in very close. "When did this happen?"

"About four days ago. He was scaring Stellar! We were just outside chatting when Joule ran out of the house waving a freaking wooden roller at us and started shouting gibberish at Stellar."

"What? What was he saying?"

"I didn't catch half of it, he was mostly shouting APOLOGISE APOLOGISE and raving like a lunatic. I seriously thought he was going to hit Stellar."

"So you punched him?"

Cagalli gave a shrug, like that was the normal course of action. "I wasn't going to let him hit Stellar first. You know what they say, the best defence is offence." She said it casually but in truth she was pretty freaked herself. Anyone would be if an angry, half crazed man, much bigger than you came running at you screaming at the top of their lungs, waving a wooden weapon in their hands. Cagalli always wondered if Yzak Joules' hair was naturally that colour or if it turned white from being angry all the time. "You should've seen him Miri, he looked like he was high on something." She paused then muttered, "That idiot brother of mine better not be doing drugs."

As Cagalli finished recounting her story, Flay returned home. Cagalli heard the distinct footsteps of her housemate and shouted out to the hallway, "Oh Flay! There was a package delivered earlier, I think it might be one of yours."

Flay, who always had a parcel or two from shopping online replied, "Thanks!" Her voice carried over from the hallway and a few seconds later she walked into the kitchen.

Cagalli pointed to the kitchen bench and went back to her conversation with Miriallia.

"Hey, you want me to punch Elsman for you?" Cagalli offered jokingly.

Miriallia shared a conspiratory grin but shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, but if anyone gets to punch that dickward in the face, it's me."

Across the room, Flay lifted the lid off the box and screamed at the top of her lungs.

* * *

Athrun, Yzak and Dearka snickered to each other, as another scream erupted next door. From the upstairs window they had a perfect view of the girls' house. They had just watched a second ago as Stellar walked up the steps of the girls house, before her voice joined in with the array of panicked shouting next door.

The boys snickered some more. Although they couldn't quite see into the house, judging by the way the four silhouettes appeared running frantically about from the girls' kitchen window, they were having a great time with the little surprise the boys left them.

The joy of watching someone else in misery was a new feeling for Athrun, and he had to admit he rather enjoyed it. Thinking back on all the torment Cagalli caused him, Athrun did not feel sorry at all. He was only sorry that he couldn't be there to witness the whole event in full.

The boys continued to delight at every shriek and frantic movement from the window, when about 10 minutes later a car pulled up in front of the girls' house. Athrun, Yzak and Dearka watched as Cagalli's brother got out of the car and ran up the steps of the house.

A few minutes later the shrieking next door died down, and a few minutes after that they watched as Kira exited the girls' house carrying a box with him and walked across the lawn towards them.

The doorbell rang downstairs.

Athrun went to answer it and sure enough, his best friend stood on the other side, with a familiar box in his arms and not looking particularly happy to see him.

"I think this is yours," Kira said as he shoved the box into Athrun's chest.

Athrun did not deny it. Although he had been feeling bold over the victory they had over the girls just a second earlier, the appearance of his best friend sobered him up, and Athrun was starting to feel the beginnings of regret and possible consequences.

"Cagalli would like me to deliver a message to you," Kira continued. "She says, if it's war you want, then it's war you get."

Athrun blinked at Kira. "What?" He asked confused. The wording didn't sound right. "What do you mean if it's war _I_ want? She's the one that started it!"

Kira finally grinned, the seriousness leaving him and a rather amused expression lit up his face. "Yeah, about that..."

* * *

Kira sprinted up the steps of Cagalli's porch. The door was unlocked. He walked in and headed towards where the commotion was. When he entered the kitchen he found Flay pressed against the kitchen bench holding a stiletto in her hand like a weapon. Next to her, Miriallia raised a frying pan above her head, Stellar hid behind her and on the other side...trust his sister to be the one holding the largest kitchen knife she could find.

"There! Over there!" The girls screamed simultaneously at him.

Kira turned and that was when he spotted the largest spider he had ever seen crouching in the corner. It was so big and black and hairy that he almost mistook it for a cat.

"Oh."

When the spider twitched one of its legs, all four girls jumped in fright.

"Get it Kira! Or I'm telling mum you were the one that destroyed her petunias when we were in eighth grade!"

Kira didn't need to be told twice. He would've done anything to protect his sister, even fend off big scary monster spiders. But the threat to tell their mother might have motivated him some more. If anyone who had met Cagalli thought she was scary, it was nothing compared to their mother.

Kira looked around, trying to find something to use, spotting the plastic fruit bowl. He grabbed it and lunged for the spider. The spider skittered out of way and crawled across the room causing the girls to scatter in a mad panic.

Kira tried again unsuccessfully, and the third time he was almost stabbed by his own sister as Cagalli tried to assist him when the spider crawled into her vicinity.

At last, after avoiding being hacked by his own sister, clobbered with a heel by his ex (which might have been intentional), and almost hit with a frying pan, Kira managed to corner the spider. And with one swift leap, had it trapped under the large fruit bowl.

Cagalli handed him a giant textbook which he placed on top of the bowl as a weight. Everyone breathed out a sigh of relief.

When the other girls sank into their chairs by the table, half exhausted from the fright, Cagalli stood there with her arms folded, knife thankfully put away and asked suspiciously, "Why would anyone send us a spider?"

A knowing pricked at the back of Kira's mind, but it wasn't until he lifted the box by the bench that he confirmed his suspicions. Kira frowned. He thought he had successfully scared his friends enough to stop them from doing anything stupid in relation to his sister. Turned out, his friends were more stupid than he thought.

He passed the box to Cagalli and pointed to the small print under the word FRAGILE, _Property of Shinn Asuka_.

"What's a Shinn Asuka?"

"Shinn's the new guy that moved in next door," Kira explained.

Behind them they heard something snap. They turned around to find Flay had grabbed a pen from the table and broken it into pieces.

Cagalli turned back to Kira, eyes narrowing into slits. "Is this meant to be a joke?"

"Well you did declare war on them."

"What are you talking about?" Cagalli asked, looking genuinely perplexed.

Kira stared at his sister suspiciously. She looked like she seriously had no idea what he was talking about. But Kira had seen the note, and the handwriting was definitely his sister's. "You know, the note you wrote and pasted on the guys' door? THIS IS WAR?" He prompted.

He watched as the blank look on Cagalli's face shifted. A slow realisation began to surface. Cagalli stared at Kira with a sheepish grin and finally said, "I might have been drunk when I wrote that."

Kira, knowing his sister too well, asked, "How many?"

He saw his sister cringe. "Four bottles."

"So you didn't declare war on the guys?"

Cagalli shrugged. "Not intentionally. Or not soberly."

Kira could laugh at the hilarity of the situation. And it was only hilarious because he was on the outside (he would not like to be in Athrun's shoes right now). He didn't laugh however because his sister had a look in her eyes that could only suggest trouble.

Kira almost didn't want to ask, "And now?"

"Now things have changed," Cagalli declared and her fists clenched in her folded arms. She looked around at the mess in the kitchen, then over at her friends who were still recovering from the night's fright. "Tell Zala, if it's war he wants, then it's war he gets."

Well, Kira thought resigned, he did his best to try to warn his best friend of his sister. It's not his fault that Athrun failed to listen.

Cagalli looked ready for a fight and a fight was exactly what Athrun was going to get. The gold in her eyes burned against a deep autumn orange, ready to set fire on whatever she laid her eyes on, but she only had one person in her sights.

"Athrun Zala will rue the day he was born."

* * *

"...will rue the day he was born," Kira repeated, as he finished telling his story. "She also instructed me to kick you in the balls, but I think we'll skip that for now."

Athrun was left speechless, staring at his best friend like he really had been kicked in the balls. When his mind finally finished ingesting what he had been told, Athrun felt faint.

"You mean..."

"Yup."

"That I..."

"Mmhmm."

"And she didn't..."

"Nope."

Athrun found he didn't have the strength to finish his sentence. He felt like his world had been turned upside down. Cagalli did not declare war on him. No, he had inadvertently declared war on her.

"Oh, and Athrun?" Kira said, the lightheartedness disappearing from his face once again. "I'd rather not get dragged out of the house as I'm about to settle down to a relaxing evening with Lacus, because I got a phone call from my sister sounding frantic and panicked." He reached over and placed a hand on Athrun's shoulder, squeezing it tightly, while a dark storm blew over his eyes. "Don't do that again," Kira warned.

Athrun gulped and nodded vigorously. He wasn't sure which Kira was more pissed off about, the fact that his night with Lacus was interrupted or the fact that Cagalli had been in distress, but either did not bode well for him as he was the cause of both.

Kira turned to go, leaving Athrun standing by his doorstep, holding a box with a giant spider in his hands and ruefully regretting ever opening the door, if not the day he was born.

* * *

When Shinn returned home, late in the night, he was glad for once that all the day classes had been filled leaving him with only night class options. Despite it screwing up his daily routines, with his nights becoming his days and days becoming his nights, at least now he got to avoid his weird housemates.

It was just his luck that he happened to be sharing a house with the creep on all the posters. Shinn shivered. And his other housemate, Yzak, downright scared him. Not to mention he ran into the red headed banshee from the cafeteria the other day and she had slapped him with a dry cleaning bill the cost of his entire month of rent. Needless to say Shinn had run away only to discover earlier today that the banshee lived right next door.

If he had any other choice, he would move out, but beggars can't be choosers. His parents lived in another state and he was too broke to afford anywhere else. It was only for the semester, Shinn reminded himself, he'll move back to his parents' for the break and then find campus accomodation for next year.

Sighing, Shinn headed to the kitchen to grab what would be his lunch when he noticed his package sitting on the kitchen table. His face immediately lit up as he reached for it, noticing that the lid was already halfway open.

Frowning, Shinn lifted it and peered inside to find the box empty. "Mr Rogers?" He called out, but Mr Rogers was nowhere to be found.

* * *

The next morning, a loud scream could be heard echoing through the boys' household and Dearka came running out of his bedroom with a giant spider on his head.


End file.
